"I had just finished a three-year remodel -- doing most of it myself --

and now I'm planning on moving in the next three months," said the Sunnyvale resident. "They say it should be www.remodelANDmove.com."

Fritschen, though, figures he's making the right decision, financially and emotionally, for himself and his family. Now he's set out to help others do the same, through the Web site and a book, "Remodel or Move? Make the Right Decision," due out in April.

"I had a relative who was trying to decide on a remodel, and a light bulb went off for me," says Fritschen, a Silicon Valley denizen with engineering and business backgrounds. "There's no good tool out there to help try to weigh the finances and the emotional factors and make a recommendation.

"The remodeling, you can calculate. The moving is pretty straightforward, but the moving industry doesn't want you to add it (and the associated costs) all up. ... People in the Bay Area think, 'I have an $800,000 house, I can sell it and it doesn't cost me anything,' but that'll be 10 to 15 percent in our area and that'll cost you $75,000 and up." There's the cost of preparing a house to show and sell -- along with closing costs (to sell the old house, then to buy the new one), real estate commission and the actual moving.

But that bottom line doesn't take into account the emotional toll of moving out of a house or neighborhood that you really love -- a factor that Fritschen takes into account.

Rob Netsch, a co-worker of Fritschen's, ended up doing a remodel that cost about $700,000 on the Piedmont house he bought for $800,000 in 1998, and the bottom line makes perfect sense for him.

"The house wasn't quite right for us, but the kids were in school and the schools are top-notch," says Netsch. "We looked for another house, but this is a small area, with maybe 10,000 people, and so there was only a house or two a week to see. ... And everything we looked at was $1.5 million and up and still didn't have everything we wanted. Based on all those things, we decided to stay and remodel."

Fritschen guided Netsch to a decision through a series of paper worksheets, which have now gone virtual. Visitors who go to the Web site and register -- it's free and Fritschen promises a newsletter later on -- can access the Remodel or Move Calculator, which asks 35 questions, beginning with how much you could sell your home for today and how much it would cost to buy another with all the features you want. Then you click on "San Francisco Bay Area" (50 states are represented) and answer a series of questions about your remodel.

The next segment helps determine how much a move would cost, and the final segment analyzes how much you like where you live now.

At the end of it all, the calculator makes a fairly reasonable recommendation. For instance, if the data determine that remodeling would be more expensive than moving but you really like your neighborhood, the advice is: "Your 'gut feeling' shows a strong preference for remodeling but it costs more to remodel than to move. It is best if you can have your 'gut feeling' agree with the lower cost option. To receive a clear remodel or move recommendation, consider reducing the amount of your remodeling project, do more work on the project yourself or settle for a lower quality of finish. Also check your answers in the 'gut feeling' section and make sure you still agree with them."

You can enter and save up to four projects, to test different equations. The calculator spits out such details as the cost and financing cost of each option and the estimated payback, and recommendations end with, "Be sure to review your options with local real estate and remodeling experts before making your final decision."

"Contractors and real estate agents can be wonderful resources, if you can find the right one," says Fritschen. "They are great people to talk to about this, but you have to be careful. It's a tough decision, and I haven't seen anybody who's analyzed it this way, and it needs to be analyzed."

Fritschen is neither contractor nor real estate agent, though his Web site offers plenty of sensible advice about selecting and working with both. He hopes to build a professional niche as a speaker and consultant but is donating any after-tax proceeds from his book to Habitat for Humanity, which creates home ownership opportunities for those who couldn't otherwise afford them.

He's bought and remodeled several homes for his own family, and his calculator would support his latest decision.

"I have two girls, and we want a bigger yard and different schools," Fritschen says. "Not much you can do about that -- you gotta move."

Stay or go?

At www.remodelormove.com, you can weigh the options of remodeling your current home versus buying another. Here are a few reasons the site offers for choosing one over the other: